PS5: Sony reveals technical information about new PlayStation in live 'deep dive'

New console will be able to load up information 100 times faster, Sony claims

An attendee plays a video game on the PlayStation 4 video game console in the Sony Interactive Entertainment booth during the Tokyo Game Show 2018 on September 20, 2018 in Chiba, Japan (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)

Sony has revealed new technical information about the PlayStation 5 ahead of its release.

The console is not due to come out until later this year, but both Sony and Microsoft have shown off details of their upcoming, next generation consoles in recent weeks.

This time around, lead system architect Mark Cerny gave a "deep dive" into the technical details of the system. The event had been scheduled for the Game Developers Conference this week, but had to be cancelled and held in a closed live stream as a result of the spread of coronavirus.

Through the event, Mr Cerny spoke about how the new console's storage – which uses an SSD that is much quicker than the hard drive found in the PS4 – will allow games to load more quickly and include far more rich experiences.

Mr Cerny and the rest of the PlayStation team have already spoken about the way that faster storage will get rid of gamers' frustrations with things such as loading screens.

But he gave more details on the ways the SSD will allow developers to more quickly call up information, including the claim that the console will load data 100 times faster than the PS4.

He also spoke about the company's plans for 3D audio, which he said allows for much greater immersion in games, by allowing sounds to seem as if they are happening all around the player.

Mr Cerny said the company had come up against a number of problems as they created the new console, such as how to deal with the heat put out by the extra power and the problems inherent in making it backwards compatible. Sony has come up with technical solutions for both, Mr Cerny indicated, including changes that mean almost all of the most popular games from the PlayStation 4 will be playable on the new console at launch.

He also spoke at length about how the company's plans for 3D audio had come against the idea of HRTF, or "head related transfer function". That is the effect that people's specific head and ear shape have on their perception of sound – and since it is different for each person, engineers have to work to ensure the console provides immersive experiences while accounting for that fact.

The technical nature of the presentation and the lack of news about new features or games prompted boredom and frustration among fans, who voiced their disapproval in the live stream's comment section.